Sunday, September 28, 2014

Why
ask a friend to water your plants when you're out of town, when all you need to
create your own automatic plant watering system is paper towel and a glass?
According to Liz Foreman of HouseLogic.com (who heard of this trick from
Lifehacker.com), the process is simple: Tightly roll a few sheets of paper
towel (we suggest using a sturdy brand) at a diagonal to create a thick rope.
Then place one end of your paper towel rope all the way into a glass of water,
and drape the other end across the soil, a few inches from the plant. The paper
towel sucks the water from the glass and deposits it at an even rate on the
soil. Watering for a few days: done.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Nearly 100 ingredients are processed to make Worcestershire Sauce. Some of them are red onions, cloves, hot chilies, anchovies, garlic, tamarinds, and shallots. The sauce is not cooked, but is aged in wooden casks up to two years. After aging, it is then strained and pasteurized.

Use Worcestershipe Sauce to season tomato sauces, beverages, and soups. Use in meat marinades, in sauces for meats and vegetables, and in soups. Add to butter-garlic mixture for garlic bred. Use in cheese spreads, appetizer dips, barbecue sauce, snack mixes, and gravies, or sprinkle over popcorn.

Storage - store in cabinet or pantry no longer than one year for peak quality. Shake well before using, as ingredients settle in the bottle.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Available as a fresh root, horseradish can be dried minced or prepared and bottled. Prepared horseradish is a mixture of finely grated horseradish root and vinegar.

Add grated fresh or prepared horseradish to melted butter; serve over grilled or broiled steak or chops. Fold horseradish into whipped cream and serve as a condiment with roast meats. Use to season salad dressings and sauces for seafood and meat. Mix with applesauce to serve with roast pork or ham. Use also in pickles and relishes.

Storage - fresh root can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks; unopened and bottled prepared horseradish in a cabinet or pantry one year; opened, in a refrigerator on year; dried flakes in a cabinet or pantry up to one year.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Ginger is the root stalk of a tropical plant. Available as a fresh root, powdered, preserved, or crystallized, it has a sweet, fragrant aroma. Ginger root does not have to be peeled before using.

Use to flavor tea, adding a strip of lemon or orange. Use in salad dressings for fruit and poultry, in marinades, sauces, chutnies, jams, cookies, and cakes. Rub onto beef or pork roasts before cooking them. Add to mashed carrots, sweet potatoes, or acorn squash. Combine with cinnamon and nutmeg in cooking desserts.

Storage - fresh ginger root can be stored up to four weeks in a plastic bag in the refrigerator or cut into chunks, covered with dry sherry in a jar, and refrigerated. An unopened jar of preserved ginger, and dried, powder, or crystallized ginger in jars can be stored in a cabinet or pantry up to one year for optimum quality; refrigerate an opened jar of preserved ginger.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Curry powder is a combination of many spices. It may have as few as 5 ingredients or as many as 40 or 50. Turmeric is probably the most common base. Other ingredients can be ginger, coriander, caraway, cayenne pepper, cumin, fenugreek, dill, mace, cardamon, cloves, allspice, anise, bay leaves, cinnamon, fennel, garlic, mustard, nutmeg, paprika, poppy seeds, saffron, mint, and juniper berries.

Curry is used in Indian cuisine and a part of the cooking in Indonesia, Malaysia, Jamaica, and West Africa.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

A friend brought me some peaches that needed to be used within a couple days so I came up with an idea. I love Banana Pudding and I love Peaches and Cream so why not make Peach Pudding. I used my regular Banana Pudding recipe (the kind you cook from scratch) but instead of using bananas I used peaches. OMGoodness! This is so good. It isn't too sweet and you get the slight tartness from the peaches. I did make one mistake, that wasn't really a mistake but something I would change the next time I make this. I didn't cook my pudding quite long enough. It turned out just a little thin and due to this the vanilla wafers softened but their softening they thickened the pudding. Even so, this dish is delicious. Now I want to make Strawberry Pudding! And maybe Pineapple Pudding! And maybe Cherry Pudding! Need I add more?

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Available as whole or ground, cloves are the dried buds of the tropical clove tree, a relative of the myrtle family, which grown in the West Indies and Africa. The buds are first white, then green, then red. After they are picked and dried, they turn a dark, reddish brown. In small quantities, cloves have an aromatic, sweet flavor. In larger quantities, the flavor becomes quite hot. Freshly ground cloves provide the most pungent flavor.

Use whole or ground cloves in sweet beverages (mulled cider or wine, fruit punch), in cakes and cookies, and in glazes and sauces for pork and ham. Also use in chutneys, preserves, pickled fruits, candies, and puddings. Mix ground cloves and brown sugar or honey into softened butter; serve over beets, carrots, or baked sweet potatoes. Cloves also are often combined with other spices in baked goods and beverages.

Storage - cloves can be stored in a tightly closed jar in a cabinet or pantry one year for optimum quality.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Just a reminder for those of you who love to cook, don't forget to check out my book store Book Resque. I add books daily so the choice is always changing. Some are old, some are new. Some are cookbooks, some are even comic books. Some are educational, some are Very Vintage dating back into the 1800s. But all are priced low.

Most of my books are rescued from thrift stores, yard sales, and Estate sales. I buy as cheaply as possible so I can pass them on to you at an affordable price.

Each book shows it's own shipping price but when you order 2 or more the shipping weight is combined and the cost will be for the combined weight, not the individual item weight.

So, check out the site and see how many books you might like to adopt and rescue from the recycle center.

Oh yeah. Now and then I run across items other than books that need to be rescued so don't be surprised if you spot stamps, lighters, and other old but odd items listed.

Monday, September 8, 2014

The black crescent-shaped seeds from the fruit of the herb known as Carum Carvi, which grows in northern and central Europe and Asia and now in America, are the caraway seeds. Each fruit form the plant has two halves, and each half contains a caraway seed, when used as a seasoning, provides an aromatic addition to many foods and blends of teas. Caraway seeds can be used whole, or they can be crushed to release more aroma and flavor.

Heat water to boiling in large saucepan. Place bagels in water, 2 to 3 at a time; boil 30 seconds. Drain on paper toweling. Place bagels on greased cookie sheet. Brush bagels generously with mustard; sprinkle with caraway seed and salt. Bake at 400 degrees until golden, 15 - 2 minutes. 10 bagels.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a wrack in the bottom of a baking dish (spray both with non-stick). Slice each of the chicken breasts into 3 equal strips (long) Wrap each chicken strip in a slice of bacon. Place on baking rack. Bake strips about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked throughout. Remove from rack. Place in a baking dish sprayed with non-stick. Pour enough of the cheese dip over each to cover. Sprinkle with pretzels. Bake 5-8 minutes or until cheese dip is hot.

Comments: Somewhere I saw a recipe for bacon wrapped chicken strips but couldn't remember where so I decided to make my own. My chicken strips were about 1" wide and one piece of bacon was plenty to wrap with. Don't use pre-cooked bacon. It will brown before the chicken is done. For my cheese dip I used a jar of white cheese with peppers giving the dish another taste and the pretzels to add a crunch. This turned out very well. You could taste the bacon as well as the cheese and by cooking it on a rack the fat was able to drain making this a fairly healthy dish. You can also put this in individual baking dishes, instead of one large baking dish, before adding the cheese. I think Weight Watchers would love this one.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Black pepper comes from the peppercorn, a fruit (or berry) which grows on a woody plant in the tropics. As the peppercorn grows, first it is green, then it becomes red as it ripens, and turns black as it is dried. Black pepper is made form dried peppercorn. White pepper, which is milder, is the inner layer of the dried peppercorn.

Black pepper is available whole, cracked, coarsely ground, or finely ground. Used in small amounts, it is a mild seasoning; in large amounts, it has a predominant flavor. Whole peppers, ground in a peppermill, provide freshly ground seasoning and a more pungent flavor.

Storage - whole and ground pepper kept in a tightly closed jar and stored in a cabinet or pantry will retain their full flavor up to one year.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Almost
every kitchen has a bottle of this gold-green elixir that can dress a salad or
sauté vegetables, imparting heart-healthy fat in every teaspoon. But olive oil
(regular or light, save expensive extra-virgin for flavoring food) can also
help make dirty work a little easier:

Remove
paint:
Forget the harsh chemicals. To remove paint from your skin, just use olive oil
and a little granulated sugar or salt. The paint will come off and your skin
will be exfoliated and moisturized, too.

Take
it outside!:
Olive oil can help you do your yard work. Spritz it onto lawn mower blades in
the summer to help keep grass from sticking, and onto snow shovels in the
winter so that snow will slide off the shovel more easily. You can use it on
other garden tools like hoes and rakes, too.

Polish
leather shoes:
No need to use that nasty-smelling chemical stuff. A little olive oil and a
soft cloth will keep your shoes looking great.

Get
gum out of hair:
Apply the olive oil to the gum and the surrounding hair; work it through gently
and let it sit for a few minutes. Work a comb through the strands until the gum
is gone, then wash with shampoo.

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Martha A. Cheves

I'm from Georgia, moved to North Carolina by way of Florida. I've been in Charlotte for 14 years and love it. The recipes in my book Stir, Laugh, Repeat are all tested by "Food Testers" of which I now have 24. They try a dish and rate it from 1-10 with only those scoring at least an 8 making the book. My website is a holding place for my 2nd book Stir, Laugh, Repeat... Again. Please visit my site to find new recipes and tips. All recipes are easy, using common ingredients and according to my testers, great!
When I wrote my introduction about a year ago and a lot has happened since then. I now have 5 blog sites that keep me pretty busy. Two of my sites are dedicated to nothing but recipes. Martha's Recipe Cabinet holds recipes that will be included in one of my upcoming cookbooks. Martha's Kitchen Korner consists of recipes that are good but still need just a bit of work. On A Book and A Dish you will find my book reviews and the author's favorite recipe. Stir, Laugh, Repeat holds reviews written about my cookbook Stir, Laugh, Repeat and the site you are now on is the "mother" site for all of these. Here you will find cooking tips, simple recipes and updates for additions to the "offspring sites." So, enjoy!